1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to technology for providing communication between multiple servers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Identity Systems have become more popular with the growth of the Internet and the use of networks and other information technologies. In general, an Identity System provides for the creation, removal, editing and other management of identity information stored in various types of data stores. The Identity information pertains to users, groups, organizations and/or things. For each entry in the data store, a set of attributes is stored. For example, the attributes stored for a user may include a name, address, employee number, telephone number, email address, user ID and password. The Identity System can also manage access privileges that govern the subject matter an entity can view, create, modify or use in the Identity System.
In some instances, an Identity System employs multiple Identity Servers to service client requests, such as searches of the Identity System's Directory Server. Each Identity Server is able to perform the same applications and access the same Directory Server. Employing multiple Identity Servers enables the Identity System to balance the load of servicing client requests.
A function being performed by one Identity Server may require another Identity Server to carry out a specified operation. One example of such a need arises in the field of data caching. In this example, each Identity Server maintains a local cache of Directory Server entries that are frequently employed. Portions of this data are required to be the same in each Identity Server's cache. When a function being performed on one Identity Server calls for this portion of the cached data to be flushed locally, remote caches on other Identity Servers must also be flushed.
The interrelationship between operations performed on separate Identity Servers presents a need for facilitating inter-server communication—enabling one Identity Server to provide information to or direct the operation of other Identity Servers.